Chimera
by Kenshin Himura
Summary: Mass disappearances. Beasts overtaking. Sounds like a job for Edward, but this one has some 'changes' in store for him.
1. Just Another Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Tibby: Yes, I do seem to be going through nicknames like crazy, but I've taken a liking to this one. My little brother started calling me this since he was just a baby since 'Tiffany' was too difficult. He's a toddler now, but Tibby has become my widespread nickname. My little sister calls me by that as well, along with my stepmother and my friend. ANYWAY, we survived the dreaded Hurricane Katrina. I live in southeast Louisiana and we were crazy enough to stay during the storm. I live in a wooded area and at least half of our trees fell down. . Many homes were destroyed around here by fallen trees, as well as cars. We just got power back yesterday! Now we just need phones and internet…. :D Many people are dead or dying in New Orleans, at least they were before rescuers got to them. I think there's something like 10,000 casualties. Sorry for this long author's note, I just have a lot to talk about with everything. By the way, this is my first Fullmetal Alchemist fan fiction. Wish me luck!

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"Ed, don't you think this is a little overkill?" Alphonse asks, looking around at all of the bodies on the ground. The bodies belonged to a gang of low class alchemists who also had a bad profile. One thing that they didn't have was a brain though.

Edward also surveys his victims, "Bastards…. That's what they get for calling me shrimp and shortie. They shouldn't be waking up for a day or so." He smirks before transmuting a cage around the group and leaving a note on the side for them. He leads the way back to the inn, "C'mon Al, let's go back. Maybe Winry is back at the inn now."

Alphonse nods in agreement, walking alongside his brother, "I just hope these guys aren't _too _angry at you once they wake up again."

A pair of eyes watch them from around a nearby corner before the mysterious figure, –a spy-, turns and runs, reporting back to their leader.

Edward enters their room, grinning, "Winry, we're back--!" He was clutching his head a second later after a wrench had connected with it, "OWW!" He glares up at Winry, getting into one of his 'argument' stances, "What in the HELL did you do that for?"

Winry gets into a similar stance, "Because you two came back so LATE! Haven't you heard what's been going on in this town?" She shoves a newspaper into his face, nearly making him fall over backwards.

He takes it and scans the front, his brother reading over his shoulder. His amber-colored eyes widen, a gasp escaping his lips before he reads the headline out loud, "**Mass disappearances in Lockheed continue! Reaches number 48**!"

"That can't be just a coincidence!" Alphonse exclaims.

Edward scowls, having found another article and points to it, "It's not- _look_. '**Drastic rise in appearance of beasts**.' I bet you my left arm that these so-called beasts are chimeras." He narrows his eyes, "I have a feeling that there's a link between them. It could be that people are being kidnapped and turned into chimeras. If that's the case, then we have to find whoever's responsible for this and stop them." His eyes travel up to Winry, "Don't wander anywhere by yourself around here. The three of us need to stick together."

She nods in understanding, "Alright." She sighs, frustrated, "Now I'll never be able to visit that automail shop!"

The shorter boy shoots her a glare, "Would you rather get kidnapped and turned into a chimera? I'd like to see you try to get into that automail shop then or even be able to be an automail mechanic."

The two of them get into another heated argument until Alphonse breaks them up, "Uh, guys, calm down. We really shouldn't fight, especially since we have other things to worry about."

"Actually, maybe we should get some sleep. I have a feeling that a lot of things will happen tomorrow," Winry states, stretching.

"Nah, you two go on ahead. I'm going to try to solve this mystery so I might know what to look for tomorrow," Edward responds, looking over the articles again.

"But brother-!" Alphonse starts before being interrupted by Edward, "No, Al. I want to figure things out before more people are kidnapped. If they _are_ being turned into chimeras, I need to stop it. I don't want another Nina incident!"

"Brother…." The suit of armor says quietly and sadly. He remembered Nina and how upset his brother had been when she had been transformed by her own father and then killed. Alphonse had also taken a great liking to the girl and thought of her almost like a little sister.

Edward offers them a small smile, "It's alright, I shouldn't be long anyway." He rubs the back of his head, smiling sheepishly, "You know how I am- studious and a problem-solver."

"_And_ stubborn," Winry adds dully, earning a glare from him.

"JUST GO TO **BED**!" Edward shouts, fuming and pointing at the bed.

She plops down on the bed on her stomach, "Fine grump." She turns her back to him, "Better not be a grump to me tomorrow Edward."

Alphonse watches before sighing and sitting down against a wall, "Don't stay up too late Ed. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I shouldn't be up too late," the older brother responds, sitting at the table with the newspaper. He becomes deep in thought on the chimera subject, '_I know that the kidnapped people are being turned into chimeras, but by who? Whoever it is has to be someone as experienced as Tucker_….' He rests his head in his palms, still thinking, '_And what could be their motive? Are they just doing it for thrills? Or maybe they're in the same position as Tucker was?_' He messes up his hair, frustrated, '_Damn! I don't even have a lead to go on! I can't just sit around, waiting for some sign to slap me in the face!_'

Alphonse watches him sadly, '_Brother_….' He bows his head, the white orbs beneath his helm disappearing into the darkness.


	2. Kidnapped

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Tibby: Heh, just finished typing up the first chapter. Now for the second chapter. I have some of it in a notebook, which is what I'm taking all this from. As with most of my fics, I have NO idea where I'm going with this after this and maybe the next chapter. From then on, it'll be somewhat freshly thought of. Hmm… My Chemical Romance music….

EDIT: HA! Finally finished it last night and since the internet was brought back on, here is the long awaited second chapter!

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Winry woke up the next morning to see Edward scribbling on some paper. She glared at him, "You didn't get any sleep, did you?"

Edward jumped a little at the sudden sound of her voice and looked back at her, "W-Winry!" He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his head, "Erm… no, not really. I didn't find out too much either…."

He began panicking when she started to move towards him. Sure, he could handle angry chimeras and angry villains going after his throat, but an infuriated Winry was entirely different. Winry and her wrench were a force to be reckoned with and _feared_.

She tapped the end of her weapon against her open palm while glaring at him, "You were supposed to get some sleep Edward. Sleep does your body good and it might even make you taller."

Edward's temper flared up a little at her last comment, "What do YOU know!? You're not my MOTHER!"

Winry sighed, frowning, "No, I'm not your mother. I just don't like to see you overwork yourself. Seriously though, you should've gotten some sleep. Sleep's good for you and you can't fight as well when you're tired. Then if we run into those kidnappers, you won't be able to defend yourself."

He eyed her, "Are you saying that I'm some type of weakling? I can deal with those kidnappers with my eyes closed! Besides, I feel perfectly fine! I don't feel tired at all! In fact, let's go out and see that automail shop you were looking at yesterday."

Her features brighten and her eyes gleamed happily, "Really!? Wow! You're actually being nice for once Edward!"

His eye twitched angrily, "For ONCE!? I'm VERY nice to you! Not many people would be able to put up with you!"

**SMASH **

"**OW!"** Winry's wrench strikes again.

He glared up at her, rubbing the large lump on his head, "What the hell didja do THAT for!?"

She returned the glare, her hands on her hips and her deadly weapon clasped in one of those hands, "Because you were being a smart-aleck. I decided to try and knock some sense into that hollow head of yours, though I doubt it worked!"

"Why you---!!!" he shouted, looking nearly ready to tear into her.

Alphonse jumped up and tried to calm the two down, spazzing out a bit himself, "G-_Guys_! Don't fight! Let's get going instead and maybe get some breakfast too!" After a bit, he managed to calm the two down enough to get them to walk outside and walk around for a bit.

Once Winry spots the automail shop, she adhered herself to the shop window and lusted over the brand new automail accessories.

Edward sighed, resting a hand against his forehead before noticing someone watching them from off to the side. The individual had sunglasses over his eyes and just looked suspicious in general. The man turned away and disappeared around a corner and into an alleyway. Edward narrowed his eyes before quietly beginning to tail the man.

Alphonse noticed him, "Ed? Wait, where are you going?"

The blonde-haired boy casted a glance back at his brother, "Stay here and watch over Winry, Al. I want to check something out real quick. I'll be back in two shakes." Before anything else could be said, he ran off in pursuit of the man.

Alphonse watched his brother disappear, becoming a little worried, "Be careful…." He knew that his brother wouldn't be able to hear his softly spoken words, but he still felt that he should say them.

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Meanwhile, Edward reached the alleyway and walked down it cautiously, looking around. He reached a dead end and became confused, "Where'd that guy go? It's a dead end and there's no way out unless he can jump about 20-30 feet up onto the roof, which I highly doubt."

"That's what _you_ think," uttered a voice from behind him.

Edward went to turn around, but a cloth is suddenly held over his nose and mouth. The younger boy struggled to get away from the man, who also had a hold on one of his arms so that he would not be able to do alchemy. The chemical (ether) in the cloth began working on Edward as his eyes clouded over and the world soon faded to black….

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Alphonse and Winry had been searching for Edward for at least two hours now. Both of them were starting to become very worried about not finding him.

The suit of armor sighed sadly, bowing his head, "If only I had insisted that I went with him, or that he stay here with us. If I did, then he would still be here with us…."

Winry looked up at him and rested a hand against his arm, "Don't blame yourself Al. We'll find him, or he'll find us. I'm sure of it."

"I really hope you're right," Alphonse replied softly, still feeling guilty from his brother's disappearance.

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Edward's eyes slowly fluttered open, though he was severely groggy still as well as tired. He looked around, his vision blurred and his eyes threatening to close again. He couldn't make out much; the only things he could see was that he was in a dimly lit room. Come to think of it, it seemed like a laboratory. The first person who came to his mind was Tucker, but that was impossible. Tucker was gone and the person who kidnapped him was a complete stranger.

He looked below him and his eyes widened slightly upon noticing that he was lying on a large transmutation circle. Not only that, but there were other animals there with him. From what he could see, the animals were either knocked out or dead. However, his blurred vision prevented him from clearly making out what animals were there. A clicking sound in one corner of the room caught Edward's attention and he narrowed his eyes, trying to clear up his vision.

"Our guest is awake! How wonderful!"

Edward felt someone grab his chin and turn his head this way and that. He caught a glimpse of the speaker's face, seeing that it was an older man. He couldn't see clearly yet unfortunately, so this was all the information he could get.

The man released Edward's head, grinning, "To think, we snagged ourselves the Fullmetal Alchemist! What a treat this is!" The next statement, he directed at Edward, "You're very fortunate, young man. Very fortunate indeed! You won't be any normal experiment like the others, oh no no!"

"So… it was _you _that's been turning all the citizens into chimeras," Edward uttered, his temper flaring at the memory of Nina. "What you're doing is wrong! You're hurting people by trying to play God!"

A yelp of pain soon followed when a fist connected with his cheek and someone grabbed him by his hair, yanking him up off of the cold floor slightly. Apparently, the strange man from earlier was this mad alchemist's bodyguard or something, so Edward thought.

"Easy," the old man told his guardian and the 'bodyguard' grunted and dropped Edward. He went back to grinning like a child with a new toy to play with, his eyes bright with excitement as they fixed on the boy at his feet.

Edward glared up in his direction, doing all he could to escape his bindings, "Let me go! You won't get away with this! The military will be hot on your trail like the dogs they are!"

The older man just shrugged, "I care not. I only care about the here and now. I finally have a grand specimen to try this on! You will make the _perfect _chimera! For you will be a planned masterpiece!"

A cold weight settled in Edward's stomach at the madman's statement and fear started to take over, though he tried his best not to show it. He had no means of escaping that he could think of and this man was going to turn him into a 'planned masterpiece.' Giving how loony this guy was, a masterpiece could mean just about anything.

"Time for sedation. Hold him down for me, will you?" the alchemist said and his bodyguard immediately followed orders.

Edward struggled long and hard, wanting to delay the process as long as possible. He could only hope that someone would come to his rescue, but no one bursted into the door. He felt a prick in the back of his neck and his eyes widened in alarm before he felt them wanting to fall closed, '_Someone… anyone… please come help me. Alphonse… Winry… please… I'm sorry…_' Whatever the man had injected was quickly working as Edward felt his body going numb and exhaustion overtaking him. As he drifted off, his thoughts were about Winry and Alphonse, and about what would become of him once he woke up.


End file.
